randall



- E. E. RANDALL.v

KNITTING MACHINE NEEDLE.

APPLICATION man uc.1, 1917.

Ed lmemond H 1son on 0 531402 ber provided with means for preventing thepoint of the latch member from passing- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDISON ,E. RANDALL, OF KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR; TO PARAMOUNT KNITTING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

KNITTING-MACHINE NEEDLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 11, 1919'.

Application filed December 7, 1917. Serial No. 205,938.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDISON E. RANDALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kankakee, county of Kankakee, State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Knitting-Machine Needles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is. a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to a knitting machine needle of the separate latch typein which the needle is made up of two separate independently movable members one formed to present the usual hook and termed the hook member and the other performing the function of the usual latch and termed the latch member. The two needle members are usually mounted in. superimposed grooves formed in the needle cylinder or needle bed with the groove for the latch member narrower than that for the hook member, but the present invention is not restricted to the particular way in which the needle members are mounted or operated.

The present invention has for its object to provide in this type of needle a latch memback of the hook member and into such a. position that when the needle members are moved to efiect the closing of the latch upon the hook the latch member will be caught by the hook member.

Certain constructions effecting the broad purpose of the invention have been disclosed in my prior Patent No. 1,121,287 granted December 15, 1914. In the present IIIVBIP tion the desired object is effected by a construction in which the latch member is stamped or punched out of thin sheet metal thus being cheaply, easily and accurately manufactured and by a construction in which there is no lateral projection or projections from the latch member.

The nature of the invention Wlll appear more fully from the'accompanying description and drawings and will be particularly defined in the claims.

The drawings disclose two forms of separate latch needles each embodying a preferred form of the invention together with so much of an ordinarytype of knittin machine as is necessary to a disclosure of t e in vention.

tion shown in its projected or yarn receiving position therein;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with a second form of needle embodying the invent on shown inits retracted or casting ofi pos1tion therein;

Fig.3 is a View partially in central vertical crosssection of the upper ends of the needle members shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the members of the needle when in casting off position; i

Fig. 5 is a detail in horizontal cross section enlarged taken on the line ww,' Fig. 1

Fig. 6 is a view partially in vertical cross section of the upper ends of the needle members shown in Fig. 2 with the members shown in yarn-receiving position;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 with the members shown in casting 03 position.

The invention is herein shown embodied in needles designed for use in the cylinder of a circular knitting machine but it is obvious that the invention is not restricted to a.

.4 and 5 cooperatin with butts projecting from the hook mem' ers of the'needles.

In the separate latch type of needle the hook member and-the latch member have relative longitudinal movements and for that purpose the hookmember. is longitudi-. nally and transversely slotted adjacent thehook and the head of the latch member moves through this slot to bring'the' point of the latch member into and outhof coop erative relation with the hook. This relative longitudinal movement of the two needle members may be and frequently is accompaniedby a relative transverse movement to efiect the cooperative action of the two members but whether or. not such relative and transverse movement actually takes place in. efi'ecting the cooperative action of the members such relative transverse movement is capable of taking place especially when the longitudinal movement of the needle is a considerable one such for example as that which takes place in the cylinder needles of an ordinary circular knitting machine and there is then nothing in certain positions of the needle members to limit the relative transverse movement of the needle members except the construction of the machine itself. Under these circumstances by reason of the hook member swinging away from the needle bed or from'other causes the needle members are liable to become separated transversely and upon the retracting movement of the hook member the point of the latch member may pass 'to the rear of the hook member thus not only rendering the knitting imperfect but frequently breaking the needle. The relative longitudinal movements of the needle members may be effected in various ways usually by the co operation of shoulders on the hook member with shoulders on the latch member.

These cooperating pairs of shoulders are shown in the construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5 as formed by the ends of the walls of the slot in the hook member and upon the head of the latch while in the construction illustrated in Figs. 2, 6 and 7 they are shown as formed on the shank portions of the hook and latch members. It will be observed that in the case of either form of needle there are periods in the movements of the needle When the point of the latch is longitudinally separated from the inner end of the upper forward wall of the slot in the hook member and consequently if any relative transverse movement of the two members takes place when the members are 1n thls positlon a retracting movement may bring the point of the latch behind the inner face of the hook member.

This is prevented in the present invention by forming the latch member with an arm overlying the face of the hook member and projecting from the head of the latch member which travels in the slot of the hook member and so proportioning the parts that the distance from the point of the latch to the end of the arm is such that, when the point of the latch passes the inner end of the upper wall of the slot in the hook member during the relative longitudinal separating movement of the said-members, the end of the said arm will engage the unslotted. portion of the hook member and thus prevent relative transverse movement of the members suflicient to permit the point of the latch to pass behind the said inner end of the upper wall of the slot in the hook member. f

In the construction shown in Figs. 1, 3, 4

and 5 the hook member 6 is provided on its shank with a butt 7 for cooperating with the cams 4 and 5. At the opposite end it is formed into the usual hook 8 and adjacent the hook there is formed transversely through the body of the member a longitudinal slot 9 usually formed by running a saw through the hook member from the face thereof. The inner end 10 of the upper wall of this slot forms a shoulder and the inner end of the lower wall forms an opposite shoulder 11. The latch member 12 is formed from thin flat sheet metal and is preferably punched or stamped out. Its shank 13 rides in the slot 3 of the needle bed and its head 14 travels in the slot 9, the relative longitudinal movement of the two needle members bringing the point 15 of the latch into and out of cooperation with the hook 8. The arm 16 extends from the head 14 out in front of the hook member and back until it overlies or rests upon the face of the hook member. This arm is of such a length that When the point 15 has passed below the shoulder 10 the end 17 of the arm 16 will be overlying or resting upon the unslotted portion of the hook member. Consequently it is impossible for any relative transverse movement of the needle members to take place sufficient to brin the point 15 of the latch in the rear of the shoulder 10.

In the type of needle just described the hook member is given its reciprocating movement by the cams 4 and 5. As it is projected the shoulder 11 contacting with the shoulder formed by the junction of the arm 16 with the head 14 carries the latch member along in the position shown in Fig.

3. When the reverse movement of the needle takes place the hook member retracts alone until the shoulder 10 comes into con tack with the shoulder 18 on the latch at which time the needle is in the position shown in Fig. 4.

The embodiment of the invention in the form of needle shown in Figs. 2, 6 and 7 of the drawing will now be understood because this form difi'ers principally in the fact that the relative longitudinal movements of the needle members is effected not by shoulders at the head end of the latch member and the slot of the hook member but .by shoulders on the shanks of these members. As shown the hook member 19 is recessed at the rear of its shank to form the shoulders 20 and 21 while the latch 'member 22 is provided with the projection 23, the opposite faces of which form shoulders cooperating with the shoulders 20 and 21.

The needle members are shown in Figs. 6 and f? in their extreme relative longitudinal positions and it will be seen that the distance from the point 24 of the latch memwhen the point 24 of the latch is separated from the inner end 26 of the upper wall of the slot in the hook member the end 25 of the arm will be over or resting u on the unslotted ortion of the hook mem er.

The latch member may, therefore, be made in either case b punching or stamp-. ing from sheet meta which may be tempered or hardened to give the desired spring quality and thus be bent slightly at the shank as usual to cause frictional engagement with the latch member groove of the needle bed. The arm, head, point and shank of the latch are, therefore, all formed in the same plane and remain in the same plane except for the slight bending of the rear end of the shank to provide the necessary friction.

The invention, therefore, presents a needle in which the undesirable and dangerous relative transverse movements of the needle members is prevented by a construction which may be cheaply and readily manufactured.

The terms upper, lower, &c., are to be understood as terms of description and not of limitation, it being obvious that the particular relation of the parts with respect to the horizon depends upon the type of machine and the position they occupy in the machine.

Having fully described my, invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A knitting machine needle comprising a longitudinally slotted hook member, a latch member having relative longitudinal movement through the slotted portion of said hook member into and out of cooperative relation therewith, an arm overlying the face of the hook member and projecting from the head of the latch member traveling in said slot, the distance from the end of the arm to the point of the latch being greater than the distance between the inner ends of the walls of said slot whereby the said arm prevents the latch member from moving transversely with respect to the hook member suificiently to permit the point of the latch to pass behind the hook member.

2. A knitting machine needle having the construction specified in claim 1 in which the entire latch member is formed from sheet metal with the arm and head in the same plane.

3. A knitting machine needle comprising a longitudinally slotted hook member, ,"a latch member havin nal movement througi the slotted portion of said hook member into and out of cooperative relation therewith an arm overlying the face of the hook member and projecting from the head of the latch member travels ing' in said slot, the distance from the point of the latch to the end of the arm being such that when the point of the latch passes'the inner end of the upper wall of said slot in the relative longitudinal separating movement of said members the arm will engage the unslotted portion of the hook member and prevent relative transverse movement of the members sufiicient to permit the point of the latch to pass behind the said inner end of the upper wall of said slot.

relative longitudi 4. A knitting machine needle having the EDISON E. RANDALL. 

